Gradualism is the ultimate pro-choice argument because:
- It’s intuitive, easy to understand, and easy to apply.
- It’s the foundation for all pro-choice arguments.
- It’s a critical flaw in all pro-life arguments.
What is gradualism?
The concept of gradualism is a well known even if you aren’t familiar with its formal definition:
“Gradualism in biology and geology refers most broadly to a theory that changes of organic life and of the Earth itself occur through gradual increments, and often that transitions between different states are more or less continual and slow rather than periodic and rapid.”
oxfordbibliographies.com
Unifying theory
Gradualism is a unifying theory that supports all pro-abortion arguments and undermines all anti-abortion arguments.
Life begins at conception but the younger a child or fetus is the fewer and weaker their rights are. Abortion is justifiable because, for a period of time, the fetus’s right to life is weaker than the mother’s rights.
How gradualism applies to the abortion debate
Central points
Person hood
Life begins at conception, develops gradually until maturity, and ends in death. There is no issue here.
Person hood = legal protections = rights also begins at conception, develops gradually until maturity, and end at death. “Personhood” is actually a collection of individual rights that develop, mature, and potentially decline at different rates depending on their individual nature.
But a (generally) unstated assumptions of the pro-life movement is that personhood also begins at conception and it’s not gradual but rather it’s in full force and effect and absolute.
Equality and equal rights
Equality and equal rights is not about all rights being equal. It’s about eliminating unjust forms of discrimination.
But pro-life arguments misconstrue this to mean that all rights are equal for all people, therefore unborn children have the absolute right to life from the moment of conception.
Balance of rights
The younger a child or fetus is the fewer and weaker their rights. Abortion is justifiable because, for a period of time, the fetus’s right to life is weaker than the mother’s rights.
Abortion is about the balance of rights between a mother and her fetus.
Moral authority
We the people are the ultimate moral authority and have already decided in favor of pro-choice values and world governments need to catch up and reflect the pro-choice will of we the people.
Religions, governments, philosophers, scientists, are not the ultimate source of moral authority because all of these are based on human nature, which is the ultimate source of moral authority.
We the people is a purely secular concept.
Pro-life
Most all abortion related activity is about supporting or fighting against the special interest evangelical Christian pro-life political groups that seek to undermine the will of we the people.
People want access to abortion but the evangelical Christians work to deny this and impose their beliefs on us.
Pro-choice
Gradualism is a secular concept that depends on the authority of man. The better the pro-choice community understands and applies gradualism the more effective we will be at fighting against the special interests of the evangelical Christians.